"Random fact of the day" thread.

[Doitpow]

This thread is the one-stop shop for interesting trivia likely to only come up in a pub quiz.

Protip- Everyone knows what aglets are now.

My random trivia of the day is that Hans Zimmer, (oscar winning film composer known for the scores of Inception, The lion King, Pirates of the Carribean, Gladiator and The Dark knight)
played the Keyboard in Video Killed the Radio Star by The Buggles

what's your fact of the day, Escapists?

 

[Keoul]

Monkeys peel bananas upside down (or to us anyway) because it does not cause as much damage to the banana and is actually easier to peel

 

[GrimTuesday]

Some other people might have noticed this, but in Old World Blues (the Fallout: NV DLC) One of the place that could be the Big MT, or Big Mountain as it is properly called, is Black Mesa in Arizona, which would be totally fitting as Black Mesa in Half Life is also a science lab where experiments of questionable morality take place.

 

[Zack Alklazaris]

You may of noticed of the popular additive Silicon Dioxide as an anti-caking agent in food.

Yea its ground up sand.

 

[CrazyGirl17]

When set to to play the Doctor, Colin Baker, the 6th Doctor, wanted a more somber look for the Doctor (like what the 1st Doctor wore)... but got overruled. In other words- that brightly-colored mess of a costume was not his fault, though the Audio Dramas did give him a more subtle-looking outfit.

 

[ChupathingyX]

These are not dinosaurs...

Spoiler

I will not rest until everyone is aware of this!

 

[DoPo]

Monkeys peel bananas upside down (or to us anyway) because it does not cause as much damage to the banana and is actually easier to peel

Hey, I peel them that way, too. And it is easer. I frankly have no idea why people have accepted that there is only "one true way".

Anyway, my random trivia: all lottery combinations have the same chance of being picked. That means that 1,2,3,4,5,6 is as likely as 4,9,15,32,42,49. There isn't a magical combination that is has more or less of a chance. If you do want to bet on one, though, pick numbers that from 32 and above - most people tend to bet on dates (significant to them in some way), so if you do win, you'll share the money with less people.

 

[Doitpow]

These are not dinosaurs...

Spoiler

I will not rest until everyone is aware of this!

Yep, straight legged and land based they are not

 

[tendaji]

Viagra was banned from Irish Greyhound Races in Dublin back in 2001, and were classified as performance enhancers after reports told about how dogs could run faster if having taken them. No greyhound had tested positive for Viagra before this point.

 

[mikey7339]

Bananas emit anti-matter.

They contain an isotope of potassium that undergoes a form of beta decay which creates a positron, otherwise known as an anti-electron.

 

[DrgoFx]

My fun fact of the day:

There is one voice actor you have probably heard several times during your childhood and even now, but never knew who he was. This actor has one of the largest resumes in voice acting. His name is Jim Cummings. Currently, he does the voices of Tigger and Pooh in all recent renditions. He also voices Ed from the Lion King, and in the same movie sings the last few lines of Be Prepared due to Jeremy Iron's having a soar throat near the end of recording.

He has done several behind the scenes works, plenty of background characters and one liners. Rarely does he have a large roll, but to him it doesn't make a difference, to many voice actors he is an idol and a legend.

 

[Yassen]

Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD) is no longer the official name for this mental disorder. It is now called Disassociative Identity Disorder (DID). What's more, the way to tell whether someone is actually suffering from this condition is the number of personalities they exhibit. If they exhibit only two, they are probably lying, as the vast majority of cases exhibit at least three personalities (one being the 'host'). One of the most extreme cases had a person with over fifty personalities in their head, some as mentally young as five and others as old as sixty.

Usually, the 'host' will be unaware of the other personalities, but the others can be fully aware of the host and even have opinions about them. A good example of DID is the Three faces of Eve, which is based on a real person.

 

[The Night Angel]

Dolphins have the ability to function on only one half of their brains, that is why they don't need sleep, because they shut down one half of their brain, then the other
There is no part of the human body that has evolved solely for speech.
This is common knowledge by now, but Mel Blanc (the voice of Buggs Bunny) was allergic to carrots

 

[Auron225]

You can't lead a cow downstairs - not that you would try it =P

 

[darksakul]

All polar bears are left handed.

Our eyes are always the same size from birth, but our nose and ears never stop growing.

Your odds of being killed by space debris are approximately 1 in 5 billion.

 

[GoAwayVifs]

The universe is actually could be flat.

Refrigerator and Dumpster used to be brand names.

 

[ShindoL Shill]

Dolphins breed through violent sex, except the gay ones.
Occasionally they try it with humans.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolphin#Reproduction_and_sexuality
If a man and a woman are stranded in the ocean nearby, male dolphins have been known to try to murder the man, and rape the woman.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolphin#Attack_on_humans

 

[Richardplex]

You could bite through your finger as easily as a carrot. The only reason you don't is because your brain goes "OI! That's your finger! Don't eat that you moron!"

Dolphins breed through violent sex, except the gay ones.
Occasionally they try it with humans.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolphin#Reproduction_and_sexuality
If a man and a woman are stranded in the ocean nearby, male dolphins have been known to try to murder the man, and rape the woman.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolphin#Attack_on_humans

Dolphins: My answer to religious and traditional dogma against incest, sex for pleasure, homosexuality and bestiality.

 

[McMullen]

The mantle of the earth, though hot enough to melt were it at the surface, is actually kept solid by the pressure of the rock above. There is no ocean of magma under the crust.

 

[bro1667]

napoleon was average of height at that era in France.